Lift-off oven door seal



Oct 8, 1968 R. E. PAYNE l L1FTOFF OVEN DOOR SEAL Filed Sept. 2l, 1967 Illy/lll' INVENTUR S HUC/#ARD E. PA Y/Vg" United States Patent O 3,404,675 LIFT-OFF OVEN DOOR SEAL Richard E. Payne, Mansfield, Ohio, assignor to The Tappan Company, Mansfield, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 669,451 2 Claims. (Cl. 126-190) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a door seal in a cooking oven and, more particularly, to an improvement in the removable or lift-off oven door seal disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,029,805.

The seal of the noted patent was developed to provide, as compared to the conventional permanently attached seal, a sealing member which simplified initial assembly of the same in the oven construction and could subsequently be easily removed for cleaning or replacement in the event of wear or damage. This removable seal fulfilled such objectives and is currently widely used in domestic ovens in the form shown in the patent, with each individual seal basically comprising an elongated sleeve of an elastomeric material and a metal retainer strip with oliset tab ends threaded completely through the sleeve. The tab ends are exposed and adapted to be inserted in openings in the surface of the oven door or opposed frame.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide such a lift-oli` oven door seal with improved means for retaining or mounting the elastomeric sleeve on the supporting surface. More particularly, the improvement provides a reduction in the cost of the seal and mechanical simplification of the assembly of the retaining means and the sleeve, without impairment of the advantages of the lbasic seal in respect of installation and removal.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends the invention, then, comprises the features herein after fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail a certain illustrative embodiment of the invention, this being indicative, however, of but one of the various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing:

FIG. l is a fragmentary front elevation of a front wall or frame of an oven provided with seals in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of an oven assembly having such a seal-bearing front wall or frame and a door for closure thereagainst;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of one of the new seals, with an end portion of the sleeve member of this seal broken away for enhanced illustration;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the seal of FIG. 3 as indicated by the line 4-4 in the latter, with corresponding breaking away of an end of the sleeve;

FIG. S is a fragmented elevation of a corner portion of the FIG. 1 assembly on a relatively enlarged scale;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view in. the plane of the line 6-6 in FIG. 4 and with enlargement of the scale; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-section of a modified form of the sleeve member of the seal.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, reference numeral 1 designates an oven front frame or wall having a rearwardly directed inner peripheral flange 2 engaged about and fastened to the walls of an oven body 3, the latter being open at the front. Hinges 4 attached to the front wall below the oven body pivotally mount a door 5 for swinging movement between a vertical closed position and a substantially horizontal open position. This door is shown provided with counterbalance mechanism adjacent one side comprising a cam 6 which extends through a slot in the front frame 1 to engage beneath the roller 7, a pivot 8 connecting the cam to the door approximately at the inner face of the latter, and a spring 9 within the door operative to bias the cam in a counter-` clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2, or resiliently against the roller 7. Such counterbalance mechanism is duplicated at the other side of the door, and this full oven assembly will be understood to be conventional and not requiring further illustration and description for full understanding of the present seal improvements.

Since it is usually desired to seal the oven door at both vertical sides and across the top, such an arrangement is shown accomplished by three separate seal members commonly designated by reference numeral 10. These seals are identical except for length, with the top seal in this array being somewhat longer to suit the particular dimensioning of the illustrated oven opening.

Each such seal 1@ comprises an elongated body made of a resiliently deformable material and having a first illustrated cross-sectional shape providing a base portion 11 and an integral wing portion 12. The base portion 11 is hollow and rectangular with a long side of the section forming a at bottom surface 13. The wing portion 12 is, as indicated, integrally joined to the base portion 11, the joint occurring along an upper or outer corner 14 of the latter and the wing portion extending upwardly and inwardly therefrom at an angle of approximately 45. This wing portion is continuous over the length of the seal body or sleeve, coextensive with the base portion, and extends over slightly more than half the width of the latter.

It will be understood that the seal body, while resiliently deformable, will normally be of the illustrated shape and will return thereto after pressure deformation and release. The material must be able to withstand oven heat, and silicone rubber is preferred for the purpose. Examples of other materials which might be used are polytetrafluoroethylene and polychlorotritiuoroethylene.

A metal retainer designated generally by reference numeral 15 is inserted in and projects from each end of the seal body. The two retainers are identical and each comprises a relatively short insert section 16, which can for example be on the order of one inch in length, a small off-set 17, and a tab end 18. The insert end and the tab end of each retainer are shown as approximately in parallel relation with the olf-set section normal therebetween. Each insert section is of course the part of the retainer over which the associated end of the seal body or sleeve is engaged, leaving the oli-set and tab exposed, and the retainer width is such that the engagement within the sleeve is snug as shown in FIG. 6.

The edges of each insert section 16 are, moreover, directionally barbed by being cut partially diagonally in the direction of the associated sleeve end as shown at 19. Accordingly, although it is relatively easy to insert the retainers by hand in the ends of the sleeve, the inserted retainers are locked against withdrawl. The cutting of the edges as disclosed is obviously but one expedient of providing the desired locking and many other expedients or configurations could equally be applied for the purpose. The retainer tabs are off-set from the bottom 13 which is placed against the seal supporting surface.

Returning to the full assembly of seals on the oven front wall or frame, the latter is provided with a cut-out or opening of general L-shape in each upper corner region, with these openings being oriented so that they have bottom horizontal portions 20 and respectively outer vertical portions 21. Each vertical side of the frame is further provided with a lower aperture 22 in line with horizontal portion 20 of the L-shaped opening at the same side. At each location, the distance between the paired openings is slightly greater than the length of the seal body or sleeve, and the latter will possess sutiicient elasticity to be stretchable to extend the tirst distance. Each seal is accordingly mounted by inserting the retainer tab at one end in one of the frame openings and extending and stretching the sleeve body to the other opening for insertion of the other retainer tab, with the tab ends guiding the insertion and the off-sets 17 engaging the respective inner edges of the two openings in opposition to hold the seal in place against the surface under tension.

At the upper corners, more particularly, the shape of the openings provides separate edges for such off-set engagements, with dimensioning such that the end of the side seal at each side is actually abutting the end of the top seal at the same corner for continuity of the sealing. It will be appreciated that other hole configurations and arrangements can be employed if desired.

As shown by the modification in FIG. 7, the crosssectional shape of the sleeve can also be varied. In this case, the base 11 is of hollow oval section rather than rectangular, with the Wing formation 12 the same. While this Wing form is preferred for added material available for lateral deformation and conformation to possible nonuniformity of the opposed surfaces to be sealed, it may be eliminated in both forms if it is desired to use simply a more ordinary sleeve form. It will also be obvious that although the seals are disclosed as installed on the oven frame, they could also be carried by the inner liner of the door in the same manner and with the same sealing effect.

In all of the disclosed forms of the seal body, the retainers are the same as noted and obviously require less metal stock than the single long retainer taught in U.S. Patent No. 3,029,805. Furthermore, the two separate retainer pieces easily inserted in the sleeve ends eliminate the relatively more demanding job of threading the long single retainer fully through the sleeve and obviously with some care to avoid damage to the body.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the details described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

l, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. In oven construction including a door and a frame having confronting surfaces, means for sealing the door when closed, said means comprising an elongated seal body made of an elastic material which is stable at the temperatures of operation of the oven, the end portions of said body being hollow, a pair of lretainers respectively engaged with said end portions, each retainer comprising an insert section which is relatively short compared to the body length and fitted in a body end portion, the insert sections being formed with lock means permitting the same to be readily inserted by hand in the body end portions but locking the inserted sections against withdrawal therefrom, said retainers further having mounting sections exposed at the ends of the body, and means for removably securing the retainers at such mounting sections to one of said confronting surfaces respectively at points thereon spaced apart a distance greater than the normal separation of the mounting sections, the seal body being stretched in such mounting and held under tension against said one surface.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1, wherein the mounting sections of the retainers are off-set to one side and engaged behind opposed stop surfaces at the points of attachment to said one surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,130,017 9/1938 Lewis 49-493 XR 2,215,515 9/1940 Matheny 49-493 2,823,660 2/1958 Holtzboog et al. 126-190 3,029,805 4/1962 Scott 126-190 KENNETH W. SPRAGUE, Primary Examiner. 

